1. Technical Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a semiconductor laser apparatus including a base, a block perpendicularly elongated on the base, and a semiconductor laser element mounted on the block.
2. Background Art
A semiconductor laser apparatus may be used for a plurality of usages. An optical head provided for optical recording includes a semiconductor laser element, a block, and a base. The block is elongated on the main plane of the base. The semiconductor laser element is mounted on a side of the block. Then, the semiconductor laser element is perpendicular with respect to the main plane of the base. It should be noted that the block and the base are called a stem. A laser beam may be emitted from an emission point of the semiconductor laser element, perpendicular to a plane. Height of the emission point from the main plane of the stem is about 1.27 mm, since the semiconductor laser element has a length of about 1 mm.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-232684 discloses such a semiconductor laser having a stem and a semiconductor laser element mounted on the stem.
Now, a semiconductor laser element having a shorter wave length and higher power will be developed for high density optical recording. Then, it is required to miniaturize a component housing a semiconductor element, e.g. an optical head. It is also required that the height of the emission point from the surface of the stem should be lower and the height of the stem should be lower.
In order to increase output power of the semiconductor laser element, there is a tendency to increase the length of the resonator of the semiconductor laser element. However, since the semiconductor laser element is mounted on the stem, a semiconductor laser element having a length longer than 1 mm can only be mounted if the height of the emission point is lower than 1 mm.